Convergence

Keya, bent upon her task, seemed to wiggle the globes of her ass in invitation. Zhura's lips parted reflexively. She closed her eyes, but it didn't help.

"In due time," Blossom said. "Believe it or not, I am more concerned about our imminent, ghastly deaths than the next human I can breed. If you insist upon sending me into the maw of the horde to scout for you, I will spend my last few hours as I choose."

"You need me." Xhis added.

Yes, they would need Blossom. Xhis stealthy abilities and affinity for the dark would be more than valuable.

Zhura knew the strength infernal seed gave her. And Blossom was so much more powerful than Mili. The fingers of her free hand, the one not buried in her yoni - flexed, yearning, seemingly on their own accord.

She needed Blossom.

"You need me," the demon repeated.

That ebon cock twitched, just out of reach of her fingers.

Zhura wasn't even conscious of dropping to her knees. Or pulling off her bangles. She felt the grittiness of the stone floor only faintly, as if from memory. Her hands ran up the demon's pulsing, corded thighs. Xhis skin was smooth, hot as fire-baked stones. Her gaze fixed upon the veined length of turgid flesh that throbbed before her.

The herb-witch ducked her head, curling her tongue to lick off the clear fluid from the head of Blossom's cock. It tasted of tree sap. She wrapped her fingers around the shaft, let the tip glide into her mouth. She engulfed it, stroking it lovingly.

Why had she waited so long?

She felt so complete. So right, with throbbing flesh filling her mouth, and her fingers curled up inside her.

"Yes," Blossom's voice was a murmur. Xhis clawed hand settled within the thick braids on her scalp. "We will survive this trap, you and I and the priestess together."

It wasn't only her and Keya that needed to survive. Her mind struggled to form the thought. It was... the others. All of them. But that wasn't important just now. That could wait. Until after. Blossom would know what to do. Blossom would relieve her enormous burden of responsibility.

Zhura was not trying to prolong Blossom's pleasure, or even pleasure the creature at all. She wanted only to feel that thick cream coating her mouth, sliding down her throat. She pumped the demon's popo with one hand as she inhaled it. Keya and Lila's fevered gasps added to her lust.

Just now was for sucking. Just now was for swallowing.

Zhura gagged as she forced more of the thick demon cock into the opening of her throat. She felt it throb between her lips.

She couldn't stop.

She couldn't imagine wanting to.

Zhura felt gentle hands on her shoulders, easing her back. She resisted, but Blossom recoiled from the wards on those pale wrists.

"This was not part of our agreement, Blossom," Keya said, beside her ear. She smelled sweetly of sex.

Zhura's lips relinquished the demon's cock with a pop of wet protest. Drool hung from her chin. Her mouth, empty hungry, moaning with need, was quickly covered by Keya's fragrant lips, quickly filled by Keya's tongue. The priestess slipped around in front of Zhura, interposing her body between Zhura and Blossom.

As she kissed her lover, the herb-witch heard Lila beckon to Blossom.

Keya stood, one hand on Zhura's upturned forehead, the other rucking her dress up to her waist. The priestess's nether lips were dark and swollen.

Zhura was dimly aware of Blossom squatting over Lila's upturned bottom. Of the maid groaning as the demon sank its saliva-slick cock into her sodden hole.

Zhura began to nibble at her lover's cleft, teasing apart the wet petals of Keya's yoni. She could think of no better place to be than between her lover's thighs, at the fount of her womanhood. She could tell by the taste that the priestess had come already. Zhura would make her come again. Hard.

Keya gripped Zhura's head and ground the herb-witch's face into her yoni.

"Yes," Keya gasped as Zhura's tongue darted out. "Seven Fathers... I know what you need, Zhura. I am here for you. I am so close already..."

Keya gave a sharp cry. She shivered and moaned as Zhura lapped at her convulsing sex. When Zhura had her fill, Keya sagged between Zhura and the wall, blissfully spent.

Afterwards, the two sat amongst the clay manikins, softly caressing each other. The shadows deepened, the sun long having passed beyond the sky above the little enclosure. Blossom and Lila still rocked gently together against the adjacent wall. The demon had filled her womb at least once already. The maid lay on her back, clinging to the ebon infernal like a climber shimmying up a tree trunk.

"I don't want you out there," Zhura murmured to the priestess.

Keya leaned her head against her chest. "But you need me there. I have to be close to the fighting to be of any use."

Zhura stood, brushing grit from her skin, straightening her clothing. She knew she smelled of sex, but there was nothing for it. She extended a hand to her lover and pulled Keya to her feet.

"How can I feel so determined and so afraid at once. I'm afraid for you, afraid for all these people... I'm afraid of the fact that I don't fear for myself. I've never done anything like this before, and yet..."

"Anathe guides you. Be her vessel, my love." Keya squeezed Zhura's hand. "Whatever happens, I am blessed to have shared this journey with you."

Zhura heard scuffing sounds from the other side of the hide covering in the alley.

"Let me pass, Musa," came a harsh, familiar voice.

Moments later, Jinai drew the curtain aside.

She took in the scene. Her grim gaze lingered on the rutting demon, and then slid back to Keya. She stalked into the storage yard, followed by Ngo.

"We missed the celebration," the Sung warrior said, grinning at Zhura and Keya.

Blossom noticed the newcomers. But xhe turned back to Lila, more interested in rutting than the new arrivals.

It wasn't until Zhura saw the terror in the eyes of the priestess that she realized the imminent danger.

"How could I have been so stupid," Jinai said.

"Jinai-" Keya gasped.

In an instant, Zhura was moving. In the same instant, a blade the length of her forearm appeared in Jinai's slashing hand. She lunged, but not for Zhura.

Blossom's ichor spattered across Lila and the floor.

Zhura caught Jinai's wrist on her backswing, and wrenched her around. Then she sprang back as a shorter blade whipped past her eyes.

Lila and Keya screamed. Blossom hissed in pain. The demon had tried to get away at the last moment, but not quickly enough to avoid the blade. Xhe lurched into the far corner.

Jinai's dark eyes glistened with grief as she and Zhura settled into fighting stances.

"You never really came out of that tomb, did you, Keya?"

The two women slowly circled each other, careful not to step on the figures. Jinai was close, too close in the cramped quarters. Zhura held out her hand, catching the kirri club Ngo tossed to her. Blossom slowly climbed up the wall, glowing fluid streaming from a gash across xhis back.

"By the Seven Fathers," Jinai went on. "I guessed you were pregnant. But not by that filth. I was fool enough to think one of the men was the father."

She turned towards the demon, the knife cocked to throw. Zhura jabbed her with the end of the club. Jinai grunted, the knife clattering amongst the clay statues. Quick as a serpent, she swung the longer blade. Zhura caught the edge on the shaft of her club, steel sparking against the bronze chasing. Zhura reversed the club as she would a staff, smacking Jinai in the jaw. She hit hard only enough to get Jinai's attention, knocking her to the floor.

Jinai tossed the blade in disgust. She held the side of her face. She looked at Keya, who only gaped, lips trembling. "The soul of the Keya I knew is still in the swamp, drowned in the muck."

"I did come out, Jinai. You saved me. You brought me out."

Jinai shook her head. "You can have your war. All of you can go to the hells for all I care." She rose, giving Zhura as wide a berth as she could, heading for the alley. But Ngo and Musa still blocked her exit. The two looked at Keya with uncertainty.

"Jinai, wait..." the priestess began.

Jinai and Ngo faced off, the Ikanjan woman as tall as he was. Zhura tensed, sure that Jinai concealed more weapons under her garb.

Keya screamed. "You will listen to me!"

Jinai slowly turned to her former mistress. She crossed her arms, her expression as firm as a closed door.

"I did not lie when I said that I was free of Blossom. I summon the demon when I choose. I chose to carry this child."

Blossom was gone, having climbed up and over the edge of the storehouse roof.

"So there are good demons and bad demons now, is that it?"

"Blossom has helped us before, and would have again. Demons are as different as we are.

"I am here by my own choices and no one else's," Keya went on. "Zhura didn't even want to be here. But what happens here matters, Jinai. If we do not fight, this city will be lost to demons and humans that are far more rapacious than Zahar and you and I ever confronted. This is the battle we should have been fighting!"

Jinai nodded grudgingly. "It's the adventure you always wanted. I wish you well."

"We need you, Jinai. People are dying." Keya tilted her head in the direction of the golden bangles on Jinai's scarred arms, the ones the priestess had made herself so long ago. "I need you, just like I needed you to subdue Blossom. You still wear consecrated wards. You can stand against demons. Most of the wardens - most of these people - don't have that protection. The askari with you are far better warriors than the city watchmen guarding that river crossing."

"The sub-chief says the wardens can face human rebels. But the bajari tear them to pieces." Ngo said.

Jinai looked away. She retrieved her blades from where she'd thrown them, not seeming to notice when Lila edged away from her. "I'm not a warrior," Jinai said. She spoke to Keya, as if no one else was present. Although the woman often seemed to be carved from jet, it was clear she was still desperately in love. "My charge, back then, was always to keep you out of harm's way, not to stand in a spear line. You have the askari - Ranthaman already arranged for them to fight for Yende. You don't need me."

"Then just keep her safe," Zhura pleaded, softly. "Please, Jinai. Because I may not be able to."

**

Dusk steeped the ground in shadow, a black blanket thrown across the land, lit only by the city's feeble flames. Above, the sky was a fathomless blue, a color Zhura hadn't seen since the cliffs above the sea in Namu. Namu-on-the-sea. She smiled faintly as she remembered the great city, the dream of it that sparked her imagination so long ago. Only in the western sky, over the babbling river, was there a pale fringe of orange that burned as bright as that blue was deep.

Other than the murmur of the water, the Lower City was silent. Those who hadn't fled hid in their homes, fearing the night, and perhaps the days to come. Only those defenders that stood alongside her seemed to be willing to brave the open air.

They'd built up the barriers as best they could, deepening the ditches that ringed most of the approach to the bridge and the gatehouse, and backing the ditches with a berm of brick, thorny bushes, and earthen rubble. They'd hauled two massive timber logs to barricade themselves in, blocking off their flanks, including the bridge itself.

Thirty-eight wardens remained on the ground behind the barriers. Some wore red plumes and others carried shields adorned with red tassels. Zhura, Keya, Ngo, Jinai, and the askari accompanied them.

Keya and a few priests had poured libations around the defenses, just as Keya had done in camp on the journey out of Namu. That protection would hold off demons, for a time. But once trampled and watered by blood, those wards would fail.

Above, atop the tower, were about half as many wardens, armed with short hunting bows - those weapons for which Musa held so little regard. Zhura was glad he was up there with them. She'd seen the Kut archer strike fear into Oko askari the night Keya escaped her home. She knew that fear was warranted.

On the mesa, far above, several hundred paces to the east, red-plumed guards looked down from the walls of the Upper City. They would be no help tonight. They would only bear witness.

Blossom was to have been their scout, but after Jinai had wounded the demon, xhe refused to leave the Caster's Guild. Injured and slowed by pregnancy, Blossom would only be a risk.

So they were on their own. With no warning of what was to come, and when.

The first points of stars winked in the twilit sky, as if sensing the dread in Zhura's heart. And beneath that, something more frightening dwelt within her.

Eagerness.

**

Anathe sat strapped astride her bull elephant, Opal, with a Tsholo bowman and javelineer in the howdah at her back. Fifty more armored beasts stood in a broad line behind Opal. To her right, a line of brass-chased shields, spear shafts and dark skin, hosts of warriors adorned in the colors of the rainbow.

The Nubic army stood poised.

Directly below Anathe's elephants was a gentle slope, easiest for the beasts to descend, and the grassy vale of Bandiri. The plain was blanketed with the impi, the best of the Sizwe army.

The invaders stamped and sang, a sound like the raging wind. They clashed oval cowhide shields, white ostrich plumes alive in the breeze. They celebrated. They'd finally forced their enemy to stand and fight. They outnumbered the defenders by many thousands. They expected their fast-moving troops to encircle their enemy and destroy it, as Sizwe armies had, countless times before.

A column of Sizwe elephants festooned in white waded through the impi troops, moving into place to mirror her. These were more numerous but smaller than Anathe's herd. Howdahs atop the beasts bristled with spears and lances. The elephants had been hastily trained to match hers.

Anathe knew could turn them against their own masters if she tried.

The air was heavy with the beats of drums, resonant with the hopes of entire nations. The sound echoed down the line of defenders, a ripple of hollow voices. A collective signal.

Charge.

**

Zhura blinked. She was herself again, standing with Keya, the sub-chief, Ngo and Jinai behind the defensive line. Beyond the barriers, across the broad intersection, a small, lone figure hurried towards them, waving open hands. Keya recognized Marble, the drongo, and said so to the sub-chief beside her.

The child clambered over the log with help from the wardens.

"You should not be in the streets!" Zhura scolded. "Get up into the tower-"

"They come," Marble panted. "Spread out, approaching from all over the south, but there are many. So many."

The sub-chief grunted and spat.

At that moment, Zhura spotted movement. Across the street from the Caster's Guild was a cluster of walled artisan shops, all dark. In the shadows between them, candles flickered, weaving, close to the ground.

As she peered closely, she saw that they were not candles, but eyes. The eyes of night beasts, watching them.

There were many more than she could count.

The defenders saw them too. Men shifted, nervously, gripping their weapons.

"They don't even make a sound," the sub-chief muttered. Hyenas always cackled and called to each other, but not now. "Who can control animals like that?"

"Bajari," Keya answered. "Marble, get up in the tower. Stay close to Musa."

Marble slipped behind them, towards the guardhouse and tower. But Zhura never heard the door open. Later, when she remembered and glanced back, all she saw were shadows and the few wardens watching their rear.

Like ghosts in the twilight, the hyenas gathered in number. The first appeared from the south. Dark figures slunk across the Brassbelt, weaving amongst the baobabs. Eyes watched from beneath brick walls and the overhang of date palms. More crept along the bank across the river. From every direction, silent, glowing eyes watched them.

"By all that is sacred..." the sub-chief swore.

A figure appeared in the center of the street, walking from the south with a familiar gait. She wore a yellow halter top and long skirt that matched her headwrap.

Keya gasped. "Is that...?"

"Bayati," said Zhura.

The Thandi woman stopped, outside of bow range from the tower, and waited.

Zhura slung her shield on her back. "Wait here," she said to no one in particular. She went to the barrier, vaulting easily over the log, though it was nearly as tall as she was. She heard the sub-chief climb over after her.

The intersection was a broad empty space, almost the size of a small plaza in Namu. Zhura's sandals crunched as she walked down the street. She felt the eyes upon her, the anticipation of the hyenas that lined the street now, hungry to kill.

Bayati waited, just near the gates to the Caster's Guild. Her face was serene, as beautiful and heartbreaking as it had always been. She carried no weapons.

The sub-chief caught up, standing alongside Zhura. "By all the Ancestors," he wiped sweat from his forehead. "Who in hells are you?"

Bayati ignored him. "This is not your fight, Zhura."

"This is where I come from," Zhura said.

Bayati's lips curled slightly. "You're always protecting people who don't deserve it. Yende is a fool you met days ago who send his own daughter to fight his battles."

Zhura heard a murmur of voices behind the gates of the Guild. There were eyes there too, watching to see what would happen tonight.

"What you're doing is wrong." Zhura said. "You leave blood and corpses in the streets? Make innocent people fear for their lives? No, Bayati. I'm on the right side of this one."

"You could have stayed in Kitu. Had your holes poked to your heart's content," Bayati winked. "In Morore, you may get poked in places you won't like."

"You gods-damned liar. For a year, you did everything you could to get me back here." Zhura spread her hands in invitation. "Well? Here I am."

"Here you are," Bayati sighed. "I can offer generous terms."

Zhura smirked. "You're surrendering?"

Bayati turned to the sub-chief. "March your men up through the Road Gate. They won't be harmed. All we ask in return is her," she nodded at Zhura. "She would happily sacrifice herself for you. So the decision is yours, warden."

Zhura peered into the growing dark beyond the Thandi woman who had been her friend. She sensed others there in the shadows. A pungent scent, one of musk tinged with decay, clung to her nostrils.

"If you resist," Bayati went on, "we will show you no mercy. Those of your men who survive will be lucky to end up as breeding slaves to the bajari."

Zhura almost expected the sub-chief to accept. His men were city wardens, not elite palace guards, not soldiers. They never could have guessed they'd be facing infernals and a horde of hyenas in their own city.

And yet, some of them had endured two days under siege. To give up now, after all that had been sacrificed...

"Surrender my city to witches and demons?" The sub-chief spat. "If you want breeding slaves, come and get them."

Bayati nodded, her hooded eyes regarding him like something lesser. "So we shall," she said. "See you soon, Zhura."

The Thandi witch turned and walked into the dark alleys between compounds on the east side of the street. Breaking their silence, hyenas called, in drawn-out whoops along the edge of the street. Zhura felt their stress growing, straining against the taut tether of control that still held them back like a leash.

They hurried back to the barricade. "Quickly!" Zhura urged the sub-chief. "The attack is coming!"